How soon can Lake Charles ban all tobacco smoking in casinos? Can the ban include pipes, cigars, vaping, cigarettes, small cigars and chewing tobacco (spitting next to you)?

Corey Rubin, Lake Charles assistant city attorney, said state and local laws prohibit “the smoking of any lighted tobacco product, including cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, and any other lighted combustible plant material, inside of the enclosed areas of any public place such as the enclosed areas in a casino.”

But, Rubin said, designated smoking areas and bars within casinos are exempt from the no-smoking provisions. Owners and managers must post conspicuous signs to indicate no-smoking areas, he said.

For more info: www.legis.la.gov; www.cityoflakecharles.com.

 

Law bans dumping of used motor oil

Is it legal to dispose of used motor oil in your yard or drainage ditches?

“No person shall knowingly dispose of used oil in any manner other than at a permitted used oil collection facility,” reads Louisiana R.S. 30:2417.

Some automotive businesses voluntarily accept used motor oil, including Wal-Mart, Jiffy Lube and Insta-Lube.

Additionally, the city of Lake Charles’ Green Station 1, at 4331 East Broad St., accepts used oil. The site is open 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday.

“The ‘shade tree mechanic’ contributes mightily to the 1.2 billion gallons of used oil generated each year in the United States,” reads the state Department of Environmental Quality’s website.

“Because of the obstacles to proper disposal, used oil is often placed in sewers, landfills, vacant lots, or streams where its ingredients cause environmental damage.”

The site says that each of the 4 million privately owned cars and trucks in Louisiana generates nearly 3 gallons of used oil each year. 

About half of all vehicle owners maintain their own cars and trucks, the site says, but only 15 percent of those people will recycle the oil they drain from their engines.

According to the DEQ, that works out to a conservative estimate of 5 million gallons of used oil dumped into the environment each year.l

For more info: http://deq.louisiana.gov.

 

The Informer answers questions from readers each Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. It is researched and written by Andrew Perzo, an American Press staff writer. To ask a question, call 494-4098 and leave voice mail, or email informer@americanpress.com.